


Library and Heath

by Kaelanti Cadeyrn (thegreatwordologist)



Category: Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-12
Updated: 2012-05-12
Packaged: 2017-11-05 06:06:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/403222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegreatwordologist/pseuds/Kaelanti%20Cadeyrn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mary's begun to realize that someday, she might have to choose between Dickon and Colin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Library and Heath

She spends her mornings with Dickon on the heath, sometimes laughing and playing, and sometimes simply sitting and talking, looking out over the land with a wistful eye. In the spring, it seems to her that only their garden is more beautiful, but Dickon sees beauty even on the cold winter days, when everything lies buried beneath snow and ice, brown and dead... no, not dead... _waiting_. Dickon's eyes are like that, able to see past the ugliness that she'd brought with her from India. And his smile is like the sun, coaxing the tender sprout of hope within her to grow until she's beautiful to everyone. She knows this, understands somehow inherently that Dickon's always seen the potential within her, and it is this knowledge that sparks between them when he brings her a small blossom, their fingertips brushing as she blushes and moves to take it. But he keeps hold of the flower, instead tucking the long stem into the fall of thick brown hair that frames her face, so that the pretty purple petals just brush her temple. Dirty fingers ghost over her cheek, and she stares up at him, her breath caught in a tingling awareness. And then he's gone again with a flash of that smile, so charming because it's so very open and unpretentious, and Mary sits back down, watching him run alongside the fox he helped rescue, and laugh at the crow that wings above his head.

She spends her afternoons with Colin in the library, the two often sitting together as they read book after book. Colin was never much educated, so it's mostly her reading to him as he looks at the pictures, but there's something about the way he freely admits this fault, accepting her help and needing her, that stirs her heart. And sometimes, it's just picture books that they choose, usually the flower books that feature names in Latin that neither of them can pronounce. They both try, always try and always laugh as unaccustomed lips mangle the pronunciation. Colin is comfortable, soft earth that her roots can explore and find a firm foundation in, and even while stretching toward the sun of Dickon's smile, she finds the ground for her growth in Colin's awkward boyishness. The blossom in her hair gets not a second glance from Colin as he brings out the small box he got, offering it to her and waiting nervously. She hesitates, sitting beside him on the couch that he'd insisted his nurse help him onto, then opens the lid, looking at the pretty gold necklace within, the locket shaped like a rose. It's empty for now, two empty spaces waiting for pictures that she doesn't have, but it's beautiful, and she shivers when his fingers brush against her neck as he fastens the clasp. Before she can thank him, he's back to the book, red-faced and uncomfortable, but happier than she's ever seen him.

They both have a claim on her heart, and though she knows that one day, she must choose a path that will take her away from one of them, she doesn't want to think about it yet. For now, it's enough like this.


End file.
